Satellites and blogs: BlackRock to raise game in China stock picking

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - To gain an investment edge in China, BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), the world’s biggest asset manager, will map the country’s economic landscape using satellites, parse social media to take the market’s pulse and track reports in the ruling Communist Party’s newspaper, the People’s Daily.

FILE PHOTO: A sign for BlackRock Inc hangs above their building in New York U.S., July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The innovative measures, described in internal training materials seen by Reuters, take tailor-made investment analysis to a new level in China, where the firm is raising money for its China A-Share Opportunities Private Fund 1 amid growing competition.

Since Fidelity International in early 2017 became the first global asset manager to launch onshore funds in China, an increasing number of foreign money managers have won approval to launch products locally.